He Nothing Phone (2) is getting closer and it seems that this provides the perfect situation for Carl Pei, CEO of the company that manufactures it, to give his opinion on the current smartphone industry and the various surrounding factors that have given the market its current shape.
The interesting thing about his most recent statements is that he has actually ended up sharing his perspective on the current state of the market and the existence of a new number of smartphones that are not really covering any real need: folding smartphones.
This situation is not without irony, especially if we consider that the Nothing Phone stands out mainly for its aesthetic design decisions, where its appearance seeks to show a device with a transparent body with a direct view of its components.
It is enough to observe the device in detail to realize that in reality it is not as transparent as it appears and that its design corresponds more to an aesthetic decision.
So that it would not cover a specific need either, at least not something other than the one that any other model from any other manufacturer that has been active on the market for years has already satisfied for years.
But it gives us at least an opportunity for reflection.
Why Nothing’s Carl Pei Says Foldable Smartphones Don’t Fill a Need
the colleagues of Computer Hey They had the opportunity to attend the Mobile World Congress 2023 and arrange a talk with Carl Pei, current CEO of Nothing, with a long and recognized career in the smartphone industry.
In the conversation, Pei shared his point of view on the current dynamics of this sector, where he has years of experience, sharing his particular opinion on the current rage for the development of phones with folding screens.
Where these devices that bend in the strict sense would be novel, but in reality they do not respond to the “real needs of the users”, since they are “an invention of the supply chain”:
“If you make displays, you first invent the OLED display. There is a period of time of great profit margin for novelty. Then competition appears and costs and profit margins fall.
It is then when you create the flexible panels to be able to have more profit margin, not because it is a necessity of the user.
That’s how I see it. That’s why I’m not very interested in this kind of technology.”
Pei attributes that they are devices that are feasible and functional due to the direction in which the industry has grown.
But beyond the comfort that their compact size may imply when contracted, they do not represent the coverage or concrete satisfaction of any need.
Of course, the creation of this class of smartphone allows the market to maintain its dynamics with rising prices for high-end or premium devices.